AdaptNet for 7 October 2008

1. Calendar of Global Climate Negotiations and Australia
2. Energy, Climate and National Security – United States
3. Climate Prediction: A Limit to Adaptation?
4. Humanitarian Implications under Changing Climate – GIS
5. Older People’s Vulnerability to Climate Change
6. CSE Media Fellowship for the South Asian Region

1. Calendar of Global Climate Negotiations and Australia      

The paper outlines the main international forums where a post-2012 agreement on climate change is to be negotiated. It presents a timetable of major Australian events and meetings leading up to these final negotiations. The paper also provides an outline of leading organisations which are likely to influence international climate change negotiations.        

Background Note: Climate Change Negotiations, Nina Markovic and Nick Fuller, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security Section, Australian Parliamentary Library, Canberra, Australia, October 2008 

2. Energy, Climate and National Security – United States 

The report presents an overview of the American energy security challenge, the elements of a national strategy, and a plan of action. It argues that with a comprehensive strategy to change both supply of fuels and demand, the US can win the energy war, just as the strategy of containment helped win the Cold War.           

A Strategy for American Power: Energy, Climate, and National Security, Sharon Burke et al., Solarium Strategy Series, Center for New American Security, Washington, DC, USA, June 2008 [4.32 MB, PDF] 

3. Climate Prediction: A Limit to Adaptation?    

Is effective adaptation tied to the ability of the scientific enterprise to predict future climate with accuracy and precision? The paper addresses this question by investigating whether or not climate prediction is a (perceived) limit to adaptation. It examines the arguments implicit in the various claims made about climate prediction and adaptation.      

Climate Prediction: A Limit to Adaptation? (Under Review), Suraje Dessai et al., Chapter in, Living with Climate Change: Are There Limits to Adaptation? W. Neil Adger, Irene Lorenzoni and Karen O’Brien (editors), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008 [68.3 KB, PDF] 

4. Humanitarian Implications under Changing Climate – GIS  

The study identifies the most likely humanitarian implications of climate change for the next 20-30 year period. It uses Geographical Information System (GIS) to map specific hazards (floods, cyclones, droughts) associated with climate change. The study identifies hotspots of high humanitarian risk under changing climatic conditions.        

Humanitarian Implications of Climate Change: Mapping Emerging Trends and Risk Hotspots, Charles Ehrhart et al., UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, CARE International and Maplecroft, August 2008 [1.69 MB, PDF]

5. Older People’s Vulnerability to Climate Change     

The report addresses a policy challenge – climate change and ageing population. It finds that the older people are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. The report stresses the need to focus on reducing the vulnerability of older people to climate change by improving their adaptive capacity and resilience.       

Growing Old in a Changing Climate: Meeting the Challenges of an Ageing Population and Climate Change, Gary Haq, John Whitelegg and Mervyn Kohler, Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden, August 2008 [1.54 MB, PDF]

6. CSE Media Fellowship for the South Asian Region    

This media fellowship allows journalists in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh to explore the consequences of climate change in the poorer nations of the world, its impacts on the ecosystems, lifestyles and livelihoods and efforts and initiatives to adapt and innovate. Applications may be submitted by 10 October 2008.    

Climate Change in South Asia: Indications, Impacts and Innovations for Survival, First CSE Media Fellowship for the South Asian Region, Media Resource Centre, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, India, 27 October to 27 December 2008 [19.1 KB, PDF]

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AdaptNet (ISSN: 1836-2478) is a free weekly report produced by RMIT University Global Cities Institute‘s Climate Change Adaptation Working Group, Melbourne, Australia.

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Translations

• AdaptNet in English: 2006, 2007, 2008.
• Terjemahan dalam Bahasa Indonesia  (AdaptNet in Bahasa Indonesian): 2007, 2008.
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